The Columbia City Ballet will close out its Savannah season Saturday with a lavish production of “Snow White.”

Artistic and executive director William Starrett brings his own vision of the classic fairy tale to the stage. “The main difference is it’s a little bit darker, but we’re keeping it family friendly,” he says.

“The last time William staged ‘Snow White’ was in 1987, and it was very much a Disney production,” says Margey Bolen, the ballet’s director of marketing and public relations. “This year, he has created very much an epic production.

“It’s more in the vein of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale and ‘Snow White and the Huntsman,’” Bolen says. “He’s created a whole new ballet, essentially, and we’re very excited about it.”

Starrett said his story is based on the Brothers Grimm version, written in 1812. “At the time the Brothers Grimm wrote, the story was about the princess and seven knights,” he says.

“Instead of seven little men, we have seven knights who are in the forest training,” Starrett says. “They are noblemen who are learning how to fight and hunt.”

Snow White’s mother has died, and when she is 16, her father is remarrying. “Her stepmother is very vain,” Starrett says.

“During the honeymoon night, the queen takes the king’s life. The hunter is her lover.

“The chambermaid catches them and tells Snow White, so the hunter takes Snow White into the woods,” he says. “He and the queen have conspired to kill the king so the queen will have sole reign.”

The huntsman is supposed to cut out Snow White’s heart and take it to the queen, but the knights save the day. “The queen finds out she is still not the fairest of them all and knows the huntsman lied to her, so she kills him,” Starrett says.

“Snow White eats the poisoned apple. The knights are all upset and think she’s dead, so they put her in a glass coffin because they can’t bring themselves to bury her.

“The prince kisses her and asks her to marry him, and she comes back to life,” Starrett says. “All the knights bring their princesses, and the wedding is being planned.”

But all is not happily ever after just yet. “Even the evil queen comes to the wedding, and Snow White sees her,” Starrett says.

But this being a fairy tale, everything eventually comes to a happy ending. “Finally, the prince and Snow White are married, and everyone lives happily ever after,” Starrett says.

While the ballet will appeal to children, it also will be enjoyed by adults.

“In Columbia, we did sort of a darker version at night and a more child-friendly version in the day without the blood and some of the sexual tension,” Starrett says.

“That’s more the production we’re doing in Savannah, so it’s family friendly,” he says. “We’re building an audience in Savannah and don’t want to offend or alienate any of the children who might come.

“Grandparents can bring their grandchildren. It’s very balletic and a very beautiful fairy tale with dancing. The music’s incredible, much more sophisticated than Disney.”

Just because parts are dark doesn’t mean children won’t enjoy them. “Kids like to be scared a little,” Starrett says.

“The Grimms’ fairytales were created as lessons for children. There was no television or commercials, no warnings, and fairy tales were a way of telling children, ‘If you go into the woods, you’ll get eaten by wolves.’

“They were scare tactics so children would behave,” he says. “Some are kind of dark, but all have really great lessons for children to learn.”

The cast of 80 includes Savannah children who have been rehearsing for more than a month. “It’s huge, of really epic proportion,” Starrett says.

“There are quite a few new costumes. Alexis Doktor does our costumes. Claire Kallimanis is dancing Snow White, Regina Willoughby is dancing the evil queen and Journy Wilkes-Davis is dancing the prince.”

Including local children in his productions is part of Starrett’s mission to keep ballet growing. “What’s important for them is to smell the pancake makeup and see the dancers getting ready,” he says.

“We want to keep them involved and help them understand why they are studying dance, why it’s important for them to learn. Being backstage, learning music, the sets and stories — one day they’ll want to be in a production.